Can I just preface all that is about to follow with the simple statement that I know there are bigger issues in the world?

I know there is worldwide hunger, I know there isn’t enough parking on campus, I know the government is shut down, I know bipartisan politics have torn America apart beyond comprehension or repair and I know the government is probably listening to us at all times, collecting our information to plot our eventual demise.  

However, in my very privileged life, I have the opportunity and ability to be inconvenienced by the most trivial things. One of these inconveniences has been boiling my blood since 2016.

Those of you that frequent the Community Center know there is a wide variety of overpriced food that resemble the contents of a gas station more than a grocery store. And much like a gas station, the best thing you can possibly buy is their surprisingly good and wonderfully affordable coffee.

My favorite times to get coffee from the Community Center is during my nighttime desk shift that lasts until 1 a.m. Partly because I enjoy sipping coffee while I read in a peacefully quiet Community Center, and partly because I would most likely fall asleep if I didn’t.

Yet, the experience is often dampened by the cups that are offered to pour said coffee into. Yes, I know I’m writing an opinion complaining about cups. I understand the ridiculous nature of my complaints, but I am a valid human being who is allowed to feel things, and I will not keep silent any longer.

The first problem is that the cups are hidden underneath the register, and if you have ever asked for hot coffee you are all too aware of the incredulous look you get and clueless searching for the mysterious hot coffee cups underneath their register.

Once the cup is finally located after you have to describe the cup to them and the general location, you become keenly aware that the “coffee cup” is nothing more than an average paper cup used for soda, only smaller.  

Now, I am aware there are coasters that help with the inevitable burning off of all the skin on your hand. Maybe I wouldn’t be here if the altogether absence of a coffee cup was my only qualm. The arguably bigger issue in all of this, is the irrational anger I feel trying to place the flimsy plastic lids that are far too small on top of my boiling coffee.

Just for a frame of reference, these lids have also been derived from soft drink lids, only ingeniously engineered to have the appearance of a coffee lid without any of the actual function of a coffee lid.  

I don’t know all of the politics behind the Simply-to-Go and Sodexo, but I don’t see why the Simply-to-Go coffee cups cannot be used in the Community Center. For goodness sake, they are used in the Loft.

First of all, the Simply-to-Go coffee cups are the best, and their lids are phenomenal. Second, you would be allowed to use your coffee punch card at the Community Center, and finally you would be able to get your refill on your coffee at the Community Center rather than trying to down the scalding hot coffee so you can get your refill before Simply-to-Go closes at 3 p.m.

Now, I understand the coffee companies are different for Simply-to-Go and the Sodexo, but it doesn’t make any sense why we can’t just use the same cups regardless. Plus, if we really wanted to be friends, having one coffee company for campus would be just one step to creating greater unity and more pleasing coffee cups.

I understand I am just one coffee addict shouting into the void, but please hear my pleas as I am speaking for the greater good of campus and humanity. Let us not burn our hands on inadequately covered coffee any longer.